Alumni in Careers

By Laura Toney, College and Career Readiness Coordinator

RICHARD LOQUACI IS a fourth-generation Madera farmer with strong ties to our local agricultural community. He is the eldest son of Les and Laddyne Locquaci of Madera, CA. Richard attended all schools throughout our Madera Unified School system from Kindergarten through 12th grade. Richard attended John Adams Elementary, Thomas Jefferson MIddle School and Graduated from Madera High School in 1996. He then graduated from California State University, Fresno with a degree in Agricultural Business in 2000, all the while continuing to work on the family farm before and after class and on weekends. After graduating college, Richard married his high school sweetheart, Trisha Burns, and they eventually had two children, Rebecca, who is now 17 and Carson 15.

Richard shared that his strong work ethic comes from being handed responsibility at a young age. His grandfather, Bob Loquaci started him on small farm jobs at the age of 8. These jobs increased as he got older, but no matter how big or small the task he was always encouraged to take pride in his work and did his very best. While working on his family farm, Richard learned the ins and outs of irrigation, driving tractors, discing, and the importance of collaborating with fellow farmers on ag related topics, just to name a few skills.

Richard currently works on several aspects of his family’s business, Madera Agricultural Services. The business specializes in farm management, custom farming services and development of permanent crops. Madera Ag. Services is dedicated to providing the finest vineyard and orchard care available while staying current on new technologies and innovations in farming operations. Richard’s official title with the company is Secretary / Treasurer of the company. This means he gets to decide when and how much to water, fertilize crops, keep grapes and vines free of pests, in addition to overseeing the work done by his employees. His family company also works closely with Life’s Grape and River Ranch Raisin. They process, package and sell vine-dried raisins from grapes grown locally in both Fresno and Madera County.

While his children attended elementary school, Richard served on the MUSD Parent Advisory Committee as President. When he can find the time, Richard is always excited to speak in local classrooms and share the importance of what our students are learning on a daily basis, and how it ties into his work life as a farmer. He reminds them that he uses science and math regularly to balance the nutrients needed to produce a healthy crop. He also uses reading and writing daily when working with employees and their schedules, time cards and payroll oversight, billing and invoices and various account balances. When he is not working on some aspect of Ag Business, Richard likes to hunt, support the San Francisco Giants, and spend time with his family.